Letter-box.



Patented Aug. 20. MM.

J. E. BUSTELLG.

LETTER BOX.

,Application filed Nov. 1, 1900.)

(No Modal'.)

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JOHN E. COSTELLO, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

LETTER BOX.

EIEEGXFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent lilo. 680,91 1, datedAugust 20, 1901.

Application filed November 1, 1900. Serial No. 35,122. (No model.)

. T ctZZ whom it may concern:

edge to secure the door.

Be it known that I, JOHN E. COSTELLO, a resident of the city ofProvidence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in .Letter Boxes; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings,and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part ofthis specification.

This invention relates to the class of letterboxes designed for privateuse, the object being to provide a box, to be attached to the door ordoorway of a private residence or office to receive mail-matter, thatshall not be too conspicuous on account of its size, but be soconstructed and arranged as to hold all the letters, the, that thelarger boxes will. It is also carefully designed to protect its contentsfrom being damaged by the weather and from all liability of beingstolen.

It is fully described and illustrated in this specification and theannexed drawings.

Figure 1 represents a front elevation of the letter-box. Fig. 2represents a vertical crosssection taken on line 2 2 in Fig. 3 lookingtoward the right, showing the ratchet and pawl. Fig. 3 shows ahorizontal section of the box, taken through the center of the rolls online 3 3 in Fig. 2, showing the relative position of the rolls, case,and the crank, with its clutch.

The construction and operation of my invention are as follows:

A is a case made, preferably, of cast metal in about the proportions ofnine by five by two and one-half inches and having an opening J in itstop of proper dimensions to receive letters and small packages. A coverN to close the opening J is hinged to the top of the case at one side ofthe opening. A door 13 is made on the front of the case about midwaybetween the top and bottom and hinged at one edge to the side of thecase and provided with a suitable lock D on the other An opening 0 ismade in the front below the door B and closed by a glass inside to allowof the inspection of the inside without opening the door. A little Waybelow the opening J in the top of the case a pair of horizontal rolls RR are placed,

with bearings F F made in the sides of the case. The shaft of one of therolls F projects far enough through the side of the case to receive acrank N, which is placed on it to turn it by, and a ratchet-wheel S ismade fast on the shaft that has the crank just inside the case, and apawl P is held on a. stud in the side of the case, so as to engage withthe ratchet-wheel S andprevent the rolls from being turned backward, andto still further prevent rolls from being forced back by means of thecrank I make the crank loose on the shaft of the roll and puta sideratchet-wheel 1; fast on the shaft and a like ratchet-wheel o, facing inthe opposite direction, fast on the crank N. A spiral spring 72. is puton the shaft between the crank and a pin 0 near the end of the shaft topress the two ratchetwheels 0) o together, so that they will engage andturn the rolls in one direction, but will be allowed by the spring toseparate and slide by each other when the crank is turned-back ward.

The rolls R R are covered with an elastic material, like rubber, so thata single letter or a package of half a dozen can be turned in at thesame time.

The operation is this: The cover of the box is turned back, and the endsof the letters are inserted between the rolls, which are then turned bymeans of the crank, so as to carry them down into the box. Theelasticity of the covering of the rolls admits of several letters beingput in at one time. The action of the rolls is such that the letters arepressed into the box, and twice as many can be put in a box by means ofthem as can be put into a box of like capacity where gravitation isdepended upon. The rolls also close the entrance to the box, and nothingcan be drawn out, as they will not turn backward because of theratchet-wheel and pawl, and the pawl is located below the ratchet, whereit is next to impossible to tamper with it so as to allow the rolls tobe turned back.

One great objection to private letter-boxes has been their great size,making them too conspicuous and clumsy in appearance; but by use of therolls I am enabled to reduce them, to less than one-half the sizeotherwise required for the same capacity Having thus described myimprovements, on said shaft, a spring on the shaft outside I claim as myinvention and desire to secure of the crank to press the tworatchet-wheels by Letters Patent outside the box togetheig-substantiallyas de- In a letter-box the combination of a case scribed. x5 5 having anopening in its top, a pair of rolls In testimony whereof I have hereuntoset placed just under said opening and having my hand this 25th day ofOctober, A. D. 1900. bearings in the sides of the case, a ratchetwheelon one of the rolls just inside the box JOHN COSTELLO with'a pawl, acrank held on the shaft of one In presence of- [O of said rolls justoutside of the case, a ratchet- BENJ. ARNOLD,

Wheel fast on said crank, a ratchet-Wheel fast EDGAR S. MARSH.

